Cooling insert for a container

ABSTRACT

A cooling inserted into a regular cooling chest as a unit. The cooling insert consists of a multiple of hollow panels that are hinged together at their edges by adhesive tapes or extruded layers on panels that are continued between adjacent panels. The hollow panels are constructed of thin walled plastic materials. A freezable substance is inserted into the hollow panels constituting a cooling medium that will permeate through the thin walls of the hollow panels to keep food and/or drinks in a cooled state.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a container assembly, and more particularly to an insert to be inserted into an insulated container. An item which is included in virtually all outdoor activities, whether it be boating, camping, fishing, spending a day on the beach, or going on a picnic, or construction sites, is a cooler to keeps drinks and perishable foods cold and safe to eat. Although a few types of coolers are available which use electricity to provide chilling air, the vast majority rely on supplies of ice or reusable gel packs placed within the cooler to keep the interior cold. Drawbacks encountered when ice is used is that the ice occupies a lot of space in the cooler when it if frozen and when it melts the food placed into the container can become soggy. Another drawback is, when placing cold gel packs into the container, is the gel packs also take up a certain amount of space. There are known cooling containers or chests that have hollow side walls that are being filled with a cooling gel to keep the food and/or drinks in a cooled state. However, in such containers the cooling medium stays remote from the items to be cooled in the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The inventive concept eliminates the above drawbacks by placing another substitute container made up of hollow side walls which are filled with a cooling gel or dry ice. The inserted container complements the shape of the cooler. The various panels that make up the container consists of hollow and foldable panels that can be collapsed into a compact package when the not in use. The hollow panels can be made of thin plastic walls that allow the cooling medium to easily permeate through the thin walls into the interior of the cooler. The various panels are hinged together to allow an easy deployment when needed or desired. The hollow panels are useful for inserting a plurality of slim gel packs therein or for injecting dry ice into the same.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a multiple of hollow panels in a collapsed state;

FIG. 2 shows the collapsed state of FIG. 1 in a partially opened state;

FIG. 3 shows the collapsed state of FIG. 1 in an almost open state;

FIG. 4 shows the panels in their construction;

FIG. 5 Shows the hollow panel of FIG. 4 with in additional insulating layer on its exterior;

FIG. 6 shows a foldable lid being placed over a collapsed insert;

FIG. 7 shows a collapsed insert being double folded in a collapsed state;

FIG. 8 shows the insert of FIG. 7 in a compact and totally collapsed And compact state;

FIG. 9 illustrates the steps of opening and erecting the collapsed state Of FIGS. 7 and 8;

FIG. 10 shows the insert in a fully erected state;

FIGS. 11, 12 and 14 show how magnets are applied as an aid to keep The erected panels in their proper position;

FIG. 13 shows a fully assembled insert with a lid thereon;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view made up of a small single panel insert;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of FIG. 15 in a fully assembled state;

FIG. 17 is a side view of an assembled insert;

FIGS. 18 and 19 show the use of magnets as an aid to keep the panels In their proper position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the cooling insert in a collapsed state or condition. The cooling insert, once assembled, will fit snugly within a regular cooling box or chest. The various panels, from which the insert is made up, are hollow, as will be explained below, so that a cooling medium may be inserted or injected therein. This will be further explained below. In FIG. 1 there is a bottom panel 1 which is hollow, of course, but somewhat thicker than the rest of the panels. The bottom panel 1 on each side has an upstanding ledge 2 having a height of two individual panel so that when the front panel 7 including the cover panel 7 a which is hinged thereto are folded down and the two panels 7 and 7 a will be assimilated or fitted within the upstanding ledges 2 and be hidden therein. The side panels 5 and 6 are hinged to the upstanding ledges 2 and can be collapsed onto the hidden panel and will be flush thereon. Finally, there is a rear panel 4 which is hinged to yet another upstanding ledge 3 which has a height of the collapsed panels 5 and 6 and the panel 4 is hinged to the upstanding ledge 3 and when the panel 4 is folded down or collapsed onto the panels 5 and 6, the whole structure takes on a compact package which can stored until further use is desired. The compact structure, in its collapsed state is shown in FIG. 1A.

In FIG. 2, the rear panel 4 is first raised to a vertical position. Thereafter, both side panels 5 and 6 are raised and then the front panel 7 including the cover panel 7 are raised to complete the cooling insert which can now be inserted in a cooling chest. It is preferred that the cover panel 7 is made in at least twice the thickness of the other upstanding panels. This enhances the insulating quality of the cover layer 7 against a frequent opening of the container cover or lid.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate the structure of the hollow panels. The hollow interior is shown at 9. The panels should be made of thin walls to be able to transmit the cooling medium into the interior of the cooling chest. The material used could be selected from various substances such as polyethylene, PVC, Acrylic substances and many others. The hollow panels could be extruded or assembled from thin walls with a spacer there between. It also contemplated to add an extra insulating layer 9 to the hollow panel. The insulating layer 9 should be applied to an outer surface of the panel that would face the interior walls of the cooling chest. This extra layer would prolong the life of the cooling medium in the hollow panels. Another layer is shown at 10 in FIG. 5. This layer could consist of a hollow layer 10 that could be injected with a cooling medium.

The various panels could be hinged together by using adhesive tapes like packing tapes having fiber reinforcements therein or tapes known as duct tapes. In either application, the adhesive should be strong enough so that they cannot become unglued when being handled numerous times. A preferred way of making the hinges at the edges of the panels is to form the hinges during an extrusion of the panels, whereby an outer layer of the panels is extended onto an adjacent panel which forms a layer thereon. Thereby, a layer between the panels forms a reliable hinge.

FIG. 6 shows a lid that could be folded or collapsed onto itself by two panels 17 and 17 a that are hinged together.

In FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the individual panels are subdivided one more time. Thus, the bottom panel is subdivided into two panels 12 and 12 a and they are hinged together so that they can be folded upon themselves. The two side panels are 14 and 14 a are hinged to the upstanding ledges 13 and 13 a which can folded into the two bottom panels 12 and 12 a. Then there are two rear panels 15 and 15 a which can also be folded into bottom panels 12 and 12 a. There is a cover lid which also consists of two hinged panels 17 and 17 a which is stored separately from the main structure. Once all the hinged panels are collapsed into each other, they form a compact structure, shown in FIG. 8, which can easily be stored or could be placed into a freezer compartment or a freezer chest to freeze the medium in the hollow panels before being placed into the cooler chest for its intended purpose.

FIG. 9 illustrates the structure of FIG. 7 including the steps of unfolding the various panels.

FIG. 10 shows the unit of FIG. 7 in its fully assembled state. It is advantageous to give the assembled structure some stability.

FIG. 11 shows the use of magnets to give the assembled structure some stability. As an example, a magnet 22 has been attached to panel 16 a and a magnet 23 has been attached to panel 14 a. The particular location of the magnets is immaterial as long as they are placed in strategic locations to aid in holding the panels together.

FIG. 13 shows a fully assembled panel structure with a hinged cover consisting of two panels 17 and 17 a.

FIG. 14 again shows the location of magnets placed, for example, one magnet 21 placed on the upstanding panel 16 a and another magnet 20 placed on the other upstanding panel 16. This will hold the two panels in a stable state.

FIG. 12 shows the placement of magnets between the cover 17 and the upstanding panel 14. Thus, there is a magnet 18 on the upstanding side panel 14 and a magnet 19 on the cover panel 17. The use of magnet greatly enhances the handling of an assembled structure while placing the same into a cooler chest or even after the assembled structure has been placed into the cooler chest because it will prevent the various panels from collapsing upon themselves while drinks or foods are placed into the chest.

FIG. 15 shows an embodiment that is simpler in its construction and is smaller than the previous illustrated embodiments. The smaller version is useful when carrying a twelve pack of drinks in a specially designed canvas bag for that purpose. The structure is made up of a bottom panel 30 which again has upstanding ledges 31 on either side to accommodate the front panel 36 with its top cover 37 when folded down. There are two side panels 33 and 34, and a rear panel 35 which is connected to another upstanding ledge 32 by way of a hinge.

FIG. 16 shows the structure of FIG. 15 in a fully assembled state.

FIG. 17 shows the assembled state of FIG. 16 in a side view. At 40 are indicated hinges that consist of adhesive tapes as was explained above.

FIG. 18 again shows magnets to stabilize the various panels. Thus, there is a magnet 41 on the upstanding side panel 33 and there is a magnet 42 on the cover panel 37.

FIG. 19 shows further two magnets 43 and 44 that can be placed anywhere on the foldable structure where stability is desired.

At this point it is reiterated again that all panels described in the above described specification are hollow to receive a re-freezable material therein. The medium can be the well known gel packs. Suitable cold thermal media can include a high molecular weight silicone and water mixture, for example. In some embodiments, the thermal media can be a “unigel” comprising a mixture of about 98.2% water and 1.8-2.1% solids, wherein the solids can comprise 80-85% sodiumcarboxymethylcellulose, 10-16% sodium benzoate, and 4.6% cross-linkers. In other embodiments, the thermal generator can comprise two or more chemicals which when mixed together create an endothermic reaction. The chemicals can be kept segregated by a known encapsulating technique until it is desired to generate cold thermal energy. This would bc the case when a cooling chest is to be filled with food items or drinks. The assembled cooling insert would be inserted into the cooling chest first and then the encapsulated chemicals would be released whereby the cold medium could permeate through the thin wall of the hollow panels to the interior of the cooling chest. The hollow panels could also be pre-filled with a freezable gel that remains cold for several hours. 

1. A cooling insert to be inserted into a regular cooling chest and snugly fitting therein, said cooling insert consisting of a multiple of hollow panels that have means thereon to be hinged to each other, said hollow panels being filled with a cooling medium.
 2. The cooling insert of claim 1, wherein said means for hinging consists of adhesive tapes placed at respective edges of said hollow panels.
 3. The cooling insert of claim 1, wherein said hollow panels are subdivided into at least two hollow panels, said subdivided hollow panels having means thereon to be hinged to each other.
 4. The cooling insert of claim 1, wherein there is a bottom hollow panel, a hollow panel on each side, a front hollow panel. A rear hollow panel and a top cover hollow panel.
 5. The cooling insert of claim 4, wherein said bottom hollow panel has a thicker dimension than the remainder of said hollow panels.
 6. The cooling insert of claim 4, wherein said bottom hollow panel has upstanding ledges at each lateral side thereof, the height of said upstanding ledges is at least twice the thickness of each of said hollow panels.
 7. The cooling insert of claim 1, including magnets placed at various edges of said hollow panels to enhance the stability of said cooling insert once it is fully deployed.
 8. The insert cooling device of claim 1, wherein each of said hollow panels has a further insulating layer placed on an outside of said hollow panels facing an inside wall of said cooling chest.
 9. The insert of claim 9, wherein said further insulating layer is a hollow layer.
 10. The insert of claim 1, wherein said means for hinging includes a continuous layer on said panels between adjacent panels. 